Vampirates: Phantom Ship
by Rainbow Manes
Summary: Just after the events of Vampirates, Grace finds herself on the 'Phantom Ship', a ship full of ghosts-or spirits, as they like to be called. Unlike vampires, ghosts chose to stay in the mortal world because they feel the life they were given was unfair: very dangerous if they seek revenge...
1. Chapter 1

Death stories always seem to be on cold, dark, rainy nights. If you want to be especially cheesy, they're foggy, too. Well, my death just so happened to fall on a cold winter night.

It was November-I only remember because it was close to my birthday. I was walking home from my best friend's house (we had hung out after school) when I felt it: death's cold grip.

Just kidding! I never saw it coming-the first blow that knocked me out. By the way, getting knocked out isn't anything like what they say in the movies or books. I didn't see 'everything go dark'. I didn't remember anything about getting knocked out, actually.

It's like when you've and can't remember how you fell asleep. You don't remember anything from when you were actually unconscious-just things when you woke up. When I did wake up, there were maybe three guys standing over me, apparently arguing. I guessed I had been jumped by the one holding a bat. Looking at their faces, I judged them to be only a few years older than me, maybe 17 or 18.

Anyway, they were arguing about what to do to me. My stupid, unresponsive body lay helpless as they eventually decided my fate with unanimous approval. They all heaved silent sighs and bowed their heads in guilt. Ashamed, but they must finish what they started. That is the way with dumb kids like that. Who knows how much experience they had?

The big one holding the bat walked over to me. It seemed like torture, how slowly he moved, his sneakers tapping the sidewalk only lightly. I prayed to the stars above that it only be quick and my family didn't miss me too much. I tried to focus my mind on them, far away from what was about to happen, thinking that would somehow ease the pain.

It was impossible, however, as the bat finally reached my side. I continued to lay still and silent, absolutely helpless, except my eyes, begging Him for mercy.

At least it was quick.


	2. Chapter 2: Phantom Ship

"Grace!"

She was starting to think maybe Lorcan was just a smidge too overprotective.

"Ouch!"

While she wasn't paying attention, her adversary got her boot. She hopped on the other and tried to regain her balance and dodge the ghost's attacks. She allowed for a quick second's glance down at the foot. It seemed ok-no serious break, or anything. Safe to step on, at least.

Grace winced as she did step down on it and took a swing at the ghost. He blocked it swiftly and turned it back on her. Naturally, at that point, Lorcan interfered.

"I had it under control." Grace didn't like to sound ungrateful, but she also didn't like to be babied by Lorcan. It made her feel like a burden. Especially lately, since the Captain stopped talking to her about her skills.

"You need to be more careful; I don't want anything to happen to you!"

He was always too kind to her...Whenever he said anything like that, it made Grace feel warm. And it was a welcome warmth in the cold drizzle. Funny how it was perfect weather for a ghost attack. There were rumours that the ghost ship caused it to confuse their prey.

But Grace wouldn't let the Nocturne go down without a fight. She and Lorcan were the first on the deck at the beginning of the attack, ready to fight. At first they thought the ghosts were vampires, but then the Captain appeared and warned them about the ghosts.

He said they were like ghosts, but fed off of energy instead of blood. Also, they could only be killed by weapons made of iron, apparently. That was all Grace heard before the sound of fighting drowned him out.

Just after Lorcan chased off the ghost, Grace noticed a new figure appearing in the mist: tall, like the Captain-except this one was gray-colored, not black. 'The Phantom Captain' as the vampirate crew called him. Grace only knew him from rumours.

"I only need one, Obsidian. Then the fighting can stop."

His voice wasn't quite as deep as the Captain's. It was raspy and even a little frightening.

"I thought I was fair by writing to you first-but I guess now you prefer war to peaceful negotiations…"

"I already sacrificed enough donors to you, Nick!" The Captain thundered back. "This ends now."

To Grace's surprise, the other captain (Nick?) laughed. "We both know what happens to those who underestimate spirits."

"I'll go."


	3. Chapter 3: Not So Welcome

The Captain eventually allowed Grace to volunteer herself, but there was quite a bit of protest, especially from Lorcan. Fortunately, Darcy was away on her honeymoon, so she wouldn't know anything had happened for a while.

She oddly didn't feel much-not fear or sadness. Maybe she was just in shock. But she made sure not to look scared or sad in the face of the Phantom Captain-that would just give him power over her. Grace was doing this for the love of her family, the crew, and he couldn't ever take that from her.

"You're a brave one, aren't you?"

Like the Nocturne's Captain, the ghost had on a mask to hide his face. Grace imagined it was quite ugly and scary-just like his raspy, cold voice. A pale hand, paler even than vampire's skin, steered her in the direction of the ghost ship.

It was big and silver-colored. Or was that just the fog? When Grace stepped on, the floorboards of the deck creaked and groaned. How old was this ship-older than even the Nocturne? It looked cold compared to the Nocturne's friendly, welcoming aesthetic. But perhaps it was just the drizzle continuing to come down that made Grace feel that way.

"This is Chase." The Captain pointed towards one of the ghosts. He seemed to be about 20 years old, with white hair and pale skin-just like the rest. "He will tell you the basic rules of our ship and show you to your room."

The Phantom Captain leaned in close to Grace's face. "Because you volunteered, I do not want to harm you or turn you into a prisoner. Please don't do anything to change that. I will not hesitate to protect the people of this ship, and that includes providing them with adequate donors."

A chill ran down Grace's spine as she followed Chase down the passageway to her room. As soon as they were out of earshot of the Phantom Captain, he rounded on her.

"So you volunteered?"

"Yeah."

He smirked. "You say that so emotionlessly. What, getting tired of vampires? Needed a change of scenery?"

Grace glared back at him. "I call everyone on that ship my family."

Chase didn't respond, but turned back around, leading her down the stairs to rooms even deeper into the ship.

"Rule number one: Curfew is at 10:00 pm; don't leave your room after that time until 6:00 am. At 7:00 we have breakfast."

He glanced back at her. "Er, well, you donors have breakfast...Spirits tend to keep to themselves."

"Are you a ghost?"

"We prefer to be called spirits, just as your vampires prefer to be called vampirates."

Grace studied the walls. Back on the Nocturne, passengers put up decorations, usually from their past lives, to help make the ship feel more like home. But here, on this ghost ship, everything was bare. Except for dust. There must have been years and years' worth of dust layers on the walls. She hated to see what her room would look like.

"I see. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Rule number two: no fighting. Vampirates may have been allowed to kill each other on your ship, but not here. The Captain will have peace and order, even if that means throwing you overboard."

Grace was about to protest, but she decided against it. This guy was obviously just trying to push her buttons, and she wasn't going to just let him win.

"You said the gho-spirits like to keep to themselves? On the Nocturne, I used to collect the stories of how people died and turned. Would that be-"

"If you want to live, I suggest not doing that. They have a hard enough time refraining from killing all the donors they actually like. That's why we asked your captain for so many new ones."

"How long have you been taking people from our ship?!" It made Grace feel sick, never noticing missing donors. Maybe he was just trying to scare her.

"You didn't know? Does your captain lie to you?"

She didn't answer. She couldn't. Had that been the reason the Captain was speaking to her less? Avoiding her? Grace hadn't felt so betrayed in her life-including when she found out who her real dad was.

"Aw, are you going to cry now?"

She had stopped walking. And her eyes were starting to become watery.

"No. Not in front of you." Grace faced him squarely as if they were about to fight.

Again, Chase made no comment as he turned and continued on. "Rule three: don't try to run off." He smirked. "I doubt you'd make it far."

They stopped at her door. "Here's the key. You shouldn't get lost; this ship isn't big-but I advise against exploring. At least if you're new here."

Grace went in, fearful of what to expect, but also eager for its shelter from this nightmare. Were all the spirits like Chase?

She flicked a lamp on. Old fashioned and dark, but at least the room was clean. Grace couldn't spy any dust, which she had most anticipated. The bed was soft and looked warm, even though it creaked a little. The dresser was very old-looking, and Grace thought a little ugly. An adjoining bathroom was also acceptable to live with.

"And I should probably warn you…"

Grace jumped a little-she thought Chase had left. He was so _silent. _

"Breaking even one rule means you will never see your vampire friends again."

She studied his face, trying to tell if he was just trying to scare her or if he really was trying to warn her about the dangers of this ship. She guessed if the Phantom Captain had trusted the spirit to tell her the basics, what he said should probably be true.

Nonetheless, it all seemed so unbelievable she half-believed in the morning she would wake to find it was all a dream. That nothing had happened, and Lorcan would be there, sitting just beside her bed. A tear escaped her eye as she lay down to sleep.


End file.
